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Post by lygonos on Jun 11, 2017 22:55:42 GMT
Plenty of Merc wagens @ 25% off on drivethedeal just now.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 12, 2017 6:17:23 GMT
Interesting. Priced up a CLS350d Sport with a folding towbar and it came to a shade over £40,000 against list of about £52,000.
Seems exciting until you see that 3-year-old 350s are selling in the low to mid-20s - and that's at Approved Used prices. So my first three years will cost me £20,000. (Echoes of Otto and his S.) Yes, it might be the only way to get one with a factory towbar; I have an A in Man Maths but even I'm struggling there.
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Post by lygonos on Jun 12, 2017 8:50:09 GMT
...So my first three years will cost me £20,000...
Welcome to the world of depreciation in the larger prestige models - imagine if someone paid close to list price!
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 12, 2017 13:20:23 GMT
...and precisely my reason for buying mine at three years old!
Yes, I could probably run the old E until we no longer need a big car, or at least until a viable alternative to diesel power emerges - and may well do so.
But we've got our annual long road trip coming up. The old car has done five of those now, without a hitch (except the one we anchor the bikes to) and at 88,000 miles is undoubtedly good for a few more. As Humph points out, it has the supposedly ideal long-life combination of 2.1 diesel engine and five-speed autobox - although that's actually the key to its dynamic limitations:l. The grumbly engine and too-high third gear make it hard to use a gentle application of power to steady it through a bend, meaning that it tends to wallow and sway on its soft springs. If I do look at a CLS, I'd hope the extra torque of a 250 or 350, plus the extra fine-tuning of a seven-speed gearbox might make for more comfortable progress.
Then there are the extra toys inside. And the smooth leather instead of the old black rhino hide. Mere baubles, of course, but...
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Post by Humph on Jun 12, 2017 14:05:35 GMT
In truth, I found the 250 engine much ( very much ) nicer than my current 220 despite the older one "only" having the 5 speed box and the new one having the 7 speed. There are other things which are nicer about the new car, but the engine isn't one of them. I've gone from finding the old one "more than adequate" to the new one which is just "adequate". I find the 7 speeder, perhaps ironically, more hesitant than the 5. But of course it might just be a lack of engine grunt.
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Jun 12, 2017 14:07:06 GMT
That £20,000 would get you a nearly-new Skoda Superb estate - there's a thought! Up the budget a bit and you could have a Superb with the terrific 2.0 TSI petrol engine with 280 bhp. According to the What Car tables, the Superb estate holds its value almost as well as a Mercedes. But a Mercedes will probably last longer - maybe it depends on how long you're likely to keep it.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 12, 2017 16:04:30 GMT
I'd have to check the spec of the Superb. The E is unquestionably the best load-carrying estate car, partly because of the amount and usability of its interior space, but also because of its rear-wheel drive and self-levelling suspension, which make it possible to hang 75kg of bike hardware behind the rear bumper without upsetting its road manners. A CLS (or, of course, a newer E) would have those attributes too; a FWD Superb might not, whatever its credentials as a people carrier.
And yes, Humph, the 220 engine is fine when well wound up but feels a bit flat at lower speeds, requiring the gearbox to hunt a bit between third and second. Curious, then, that MB dropped the 250 from the E and the CLS in 2014 - reliability concerns, perhaps? But then, there seems little price difference at three years between 250 and 350, so perhaps that supports Esp's six-cylinders-good proposition.
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Post by Humph on Jun 12, 2017 16:15:09 GMT
I was told, but choose for yourself whether to believe it, that the dropping of the 250 was to do with emissions. Certainly the 250 I had was never problematic.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 12, 2017 16:43:45 GMT
That makes more sense. I believe the hardware of the 220 and 250 is essentially the same, just as my 325 could be reprogrammed into a 330. There are, or have been, also 136 and 150hp versions, to go with the 170 and 204, and all those Sprinter vans suggest the basic design is strong enough.
Going to have to gef myself to a dealer and see whether I actually like the thing, aren't I?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2017 16:55:28 GMT
I bought my E350 at almost four years old and only 21,000 miles. £20,000 with FMBSH and MOT.
I have not knowingly found it in the wrong gear, but like all turbos it needs a bit of a wind up to really get going. However, it drops down gears beautifully and when it comes on song you really know about it.
Having driven large numbers of cars, I can say with certainty than the only car I have driven that gave the same level of long distance comfort was a Peugeot 605DTI. But that threw a belt and it was never the same. And when the Merc is on the motorway it only needs a tweak of the right big toe to send it past other cars with the disdain for which the make is renowned.
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Post by Humph on Jun 12, 2017 17:14:08 GMT
A fiend has a CLS ( that should be "friend" but I'm sort of agreeing with the spell checker on this occasion ) He's a big beggar, 6' 5" in most directions. He loves it, had it from new in 2011, now has well over 100,000 miles on. Still looks good. He's in no hurry to part with it.
Size 15 feet too. Like I said, big chap. If he was green he'd look like Shrek.
Edit - oh and he owns a Chihuahua strangely enough, not sure why.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2017 20:31:07 GMT
Not sure why he owns the dog or why it's strange??
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jun 12, 2017 21:37:23 GMT
FWD Superb might not, whatever its credentials as a people carrier. The Superb is available as a 4x4 variant. And the estate version of the Superb has almost as much carrying space as an E Class Mercedes estate. You could even get the 280PS version that Avant suggests which is also only available as a 4x4. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2017 21:59:44 GMT
But it has DSG. Long term is that the no no?
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 12, 2017 23:34:49 GMT
Might be, but I'm more concerned about the nose weight limit. (85kg on my E; may be 90kg on the latest version. Often 65-75kg on lesser machinery, including Volvos.) That's what determines whether our four-bike carrier can go on the towbar. And self-levelling, which determines whether I can see where I'm going with a full load aboard, or just stare helplessly at the sky like an Audi A6 driver.
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